Top blood doctor calls for Pharmac chief executive Sarah Fitt to resign

Leukemia patient advocate Dr Ruth Spearing said Fitt's comments were 'disgraceful' and 'deeply offensive'. Photo / Ruth Spearing Trust

One of New Zealand’s top haematologists is calling for Pharmac boss Sarah Fitt’s resignation over “unprofessional, offensive” internal emails about journalist and Pharmac critic, Rachel Smalley.

The Trustee of Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia Advocates NZ Dr Ruth Spearing said the emails revealed “a sick, sneering culture” inside Pharmac and a “disgraceful attitude” towards a person who had the courage to speak out on behalf of patients who have been waiting years for decisions on medicines.

Results of a Privacy Act request by Smalley were made public on Friday with Pharmac’s internal emails regularly showing disdain for the journalist and her push for greater accountability from the government body.

Fitt has been heavily criticised by the Health Minister, her own board chair and the Public Service Commissioner after her emails about former broadcaster Smalley were released this week.

“Sarah Fitt’s comments are not just unprofessional, they are deeply offensive, and demonstrate that she is entirely unfit to manage an organisation that has control over the lives and wellbeing of thousands of New Zealanders,” Spearing said.

Sarah Fitt said Rachel Smalley had a terrible time slot on Today FM and "not much of a following”. Photo / Jason Oxenham.

“It’s clear that Ms Fitt has created a crude, jokey clique among senior Pharmac staff, swapping childish, insulting remarks about Ms Smalley, even to the extent of composing a limerick about her.

“I call on Health Minister Ayesha Verrall, State Services Commissioner Peter Hughes and Pharmac Chair Steve Maharey to show that this behaviour by the leader of a government agency cannot be tolerated, and to demand her immediate resignation.”

Broadcaster Rachel Smalley uncovered hundreds of pages of documents about herself after a Privacy Act request.

In one email, Fitt said Smalley has “not much of a following”; a senior staff member described a “nauseating” interview, and another staff member said Smalley’s “gunna be out of a job” with the closure of Today FM.

Another showed one Pharmac staff member said Smalley would be “mega shitty” about not getting an interview with their CEO and another worker wrote a limerick about the broadcaster.

A “disappointed” Health Minister Ayesha Verrall told Media Insider the emails were “unprofessional” and Pharmac board chairman Steve Maharey said they were “unacceptable”. Public Service Commissioner Peter Hughes said the comments were “completely unacceptable for public servants”.

Fitt wrote several emails, including regular messages to her communications team about Smalley’s tweets.

In July 2022, Fitt sent to her communications team a Today FM tweet, highlighting an article that Smalley had written on the radio station’s website about a group of cancer patients funding their own drugs. They would have been dead if they were relying on the public system, Smalley wrote.

“Sigh...” wrote Fitt in the email header field.

Photo / Rachel Smalley

One of her communications team replied that Smalley was an activist, not a journalist, to which Fitt responded: “Yep agree, the good thing is that she has a terrible time slot [on Today FM] and not much of a following.”

The Herald has approached Pharmac for comment.